Proposed Amendment: Recognizing “Households” as Land Users

The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) has recently sent a document to the Prime Minister and relevant ministries, proposing two important additions to the draft Law on Amending and Supplementing the 2024 Land Law.

Notably, the proposal suggests reinstating the recognition of “households” as land users.

According to HoREA, the 2013 Land Law previously acknowledged this status, but it is absent from the 2024 Land Law. The then-Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment explained that “households” lack legal personality and therefore cannot be considered land users.

However, HoREA argues that this explanation does not align with the 2015 Civil Code and fails to uphold the spirit of land laws throughout history.

The association cites that the current draft of the 2024 Land Law still contains up to 121 points, clauses, and articles that use the term “household” as a subject of land use. In reality, residential land, garden land, and other types of agricultural land are often jointly managed and used by the entire family, following the traditional “passing down through generations” practice, making it challenging to separate them by individuals.

HoREA emphasizes that restoring the status of “households” as land users is necessary to ensure legal continuity and accurately reflect the reality in many localities.

In the same document sent to the authorities, the association also proposed adjusting the regulations on land retrieval based on actual progress, rather than being bound by the approved project schedule.

HoREA points out that the current regulations only allow land retrieval according to the investment project schedule mentioned in the approval document or the investment policy decision.

However, in reality, many projects do not have a phased land use schedule, and during the site clearance process, projects often encounter difficulties, leading to the necessity of retrieving land in multiple phases.

HoREA argues that this discrepancy between the two articles in the 2024 Land Law can cause issues. Therefore, they suggest adding a provision that authorizes competent authorities to decide on land retrieval in one or multiple phases, following the approved compensation, support, and resettlement plan.

This adjustment is expected to resolve bottlenecks, provide local authorities with more initiative in land retrieval, ensure project progress, and protect the rights of citizens whose land is retrieved.

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